Pirates Cut Josh Sharpless, Carlos Maldonado

by Charlie Wilmoth on Mar 6, 2008 7:22 PM EST in News

The Pirates have sent pitcher Josh Sharpless and catcher Carlos Maldonado to minor league camp. All this really means is that Maldonado won't be the Pirates' backup catcher.

It's got to be embarrassing, when there are 65 players still in camp, to be only one of two players in a round of cuts.

UPDATE: The embarrassment is compounded:

Despite the openings that the Pirates have in their bullpen, general manager Neal Huntington said that the determination that Sharpless would not be in position to compete for one of those spots came long before Thursday's demotion, however. The decision was easy, Huntington said, because Sharpless simply didn't come into camp in the necessary physical condition to compete.

"To come out and compete with the numbers that we have, he didn't put himself in the best position to be able to do that," Huntington said. "If we were in a normal situation with not 30 pitchers in camp, he probably would have been fine. But we've got too large a number of pitchers that everyone needed to be ready to go right out of the chute. He didn't put himself in that situation."

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Sharpless

Looks like Huntington made an example of him.

by steve_z on Mar 7, 2008 10:58 AM EST reply actions

Wish he'd a make such an example of Paulino

by RichieHebner on Mar 7, 2008 12:45 PM EST reply actions

Just wanted to make sure people saw this

from the meeting with the Pirates VP thread in the diaries:

[new] Larry Silverman
The event was held yesterday, about 60-70 people showed up which was about 59-69 more people than I figured would show up.

The event smarted with some comments from Law and Statistics Professors and then a mock arbitration trial held by four law students concerning the Freddy Sanchez case. Obviously the case was theoretical because Freddy agreed to his deal. I didn't expect the law students to do much in terms of statistical or quantitative analysis and they were using stats like Rs and RBIs to compare Sanchez to other players. They even used players like Adam LaRoche and Alexis Rios as comparable players (most of you know these guys don't play 2B/3B). After the trial was over the opened up the floor to questions and I was able to ask one.

Here is a word for word account of what took place.

Me - "With the recent advances in Sabrmetrics and Quantitative Analysis I wanted to know what level of research you would do going into an arbitration trial. For instance, it is commonly accepted that statistics such as runs and runs batted in are very poor indicators of a players overall production while statistics like gross production average, park factors, defensive efficiency rating and on base percentage may be more indicative of a players performance. What sort of statistics would have you used in arbitration cases?"

Larry Silverman - "We never use statistics beyond what is commonly accepted. The arbitrators don't like being snowballed by high level statistics that have not been proven indicators of a players worth. Some of what you mentioned may be used in player evaluation BUT I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THAT (he didn't scream I was just highlighting an important point). In my portion of the business we basically stick to the statistics you saw in the mock trail, not statistics like 'Zone Rating' or anything Bill James uses."

Needless to say I'm not surprised by his answer, there is a reason we have lost 15 seasons in a row. I'm really sorry to bring the horrible news but I felt like you guys would want to know.

God Bless the Pirates, lets hope for more clearing in the front office.

by Kosstic518 on Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 12:15:40 AM EDT

by RichieHebner on Mar 7, 2008 12:53 PM EST reply actions

Wow

Silverman == embarrassing

by matskralc on Mar 7, 2008 9:31 PM EST up reply actions

What am I missing?

Maybe Silverman is embarrassing, but what in the passage RichieHebner posted is? It sounds to me like his tactic in arb hearings is to play to his audience (the arbiter). I don't know if what he says is true, but if you're going to lose an arbiter because his thinking is as backward, or more, as Dusty Baker's, then what's the problem? Where does it say the team isn't using those, or doesn't want to? Of course they haven't in the past, but what indicates Silverman won't assimilate to the new regime?

The focus was arb hearings, and I don't see anything unusual, unfortunate, or embarrassing in the quoted passage.

by azibuck on Mar 8, 2008 11:04 AM EST up reply actions

That passage

Plus what Richie said later about Silverman being a primary contract negotiator and having player evaluation input. I just didn't feel like responding to all of Richie's posts individually. Sorry for picking the wrong one!!

by matskralc on Mar 8, 2008 7:23 PM EST up reply actions

Larry Silverman and sabrmetrics

I applaud Larry Silverman on his answer. Larry Silverman is a business operations guy and a lawyer --- not a talent evaluator. And I agree that the supposedly impartial decision makers who hear arbitration cases probably pay very little attention to sabrmetrics.

You'd think Bill James reinvented baseball!

Cut Silverman some slack. If you want to get on people, jump on Huntington and Coonelly if there is no noticeable improvement in the Pirates' performance.

by thegunner on Mar 7, 2008 1:32 PM EST reply actions

Silverman

When the fans don't care either, why is there a reason for change? Everyone needs to be held accountable especially hold overs. If the Pirates are still evaluating players on Rs and RBIs we have no hope.

by Kosstic518 on Mar 7, 2008 4:34 PM EST up reply actions

Is your post incomplete?

Maybe in your passage you should have emphasized "...IN MY PORTION OF THE BUSINESS..." Did Silverman say more about how the org is evaluating players? Otherwise, it sounds like Silverman focused on arbitration.

by azibuck on Mar 8, 2008 11:08 AM EST up reply actions

Cut Silverman some slack?

You must be joking. This guy is authorized to negotiate contracts. Player value is in large measure determined by his input (it has for years, and I know that for a fact), and he has actually been involved in decisions about trades. I happen to know that his advice was solicited by Littlefield regarding player acquisitions, and he advised Littlefield to get Burnitz and Tracy, from a source who was privy to the information. Still think he's harmless?

by RichieHebner on Mar 7, 2008 6:21 PM EST reply actions